CNA Staff, Jul 11, 2020 / 19:15 pm
Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles has expressed his "terrible sadness" after a fire at a 249-year-old mission church founded by St. Junípero Serra, and asked for prayers for the local Catholic community.
Gomez said that the fire at "our beloved Mission San Gabriel Arcángel" early Saturday morning had caused severe damage to the California Historic Landmark.
"The damage is extensive - the roof is destroyed and much of the old church is ruined," the archbishop reported in a letter released the evening of July 11. "It is terribly sad. Thanks be to God, nobody was hurt."
The church had been scheduled to reopen on July 18, having been closed for some weeks following the coronavirus pandemic. Gomez called the mission, founded by St. Serra in 1771, the "historic cornerstone and the spiritual heart of Los Angeles and the Catholic community here."